Video marketing – fad or essential strategy?

Video marketing is definitely on the up, but is there a genuine reason for buying into the hype, or is it a waste of your budget?

While many fads come and go in the world of marketing, there’s a difference between a gimmick and a bona fide approach that will add to, and enhance, your overall strategy… and if you’re not sure how to differentiate, then you just need to look at the stats.

Increase engagement, create conversions

This year sees the 10th anniversary of YouTube – a timely event when you consider the upsurge in businesses jumping on the video marketing bandwagon of late. But these brands are totally doing the right thing, because when you ask the people that really matter, the consumers, this has become the best way to engage with your audience and encourage sales.

OK, so making videos isn’t necessarily cheap when you compare it to other types of content, but when you consider that videos on home pages increase conversion rates by at least 20%, and on landing pages by around 80%, it’s fair to say that you could see a ROI pretty quickly.

Why does video marketing work?

Like it or not, we’re becoming lazier. As technology advances and more people make purchasing decisions via their mobile devices, we’re constantly looking for quicker and easier ways to seek out and absorb information. Who in their right mind would rather read reams of text, when you can demonstrate a product or service much more effectively via a 60 second visually engaging snippet?!

In fact, 59% of senior executives will choose video over text if there’s an option, and 80% of consumers have expressed that they’d like the opportunity to learn about a product or service via this format.

With social media and increasing brand visibility such an integral part of any good marketing strategy, videos also give you a fresh way to engage with your audience. You can use your website videos on any other online platform, and you’ll find that followers are much more likely to share this kind of content, and viewers much more likely to click through to your web page.

But I can’t afford it!

Sure, videos can be pricey to make – but that’s only if you hire a professional production team and go super-glossy! There are plenty of more cost-effective options open to you; you can simply film a quick example of your work during a site visit using a basic camera or even your phone, put your products on a turntable and film a 360° view, do a ‘walkthrough’ of a finished project or property for sale or rent, or even hire a graphic designer to create some static visuals that you can animate by scrolling through them in a video style.

So with less than a quarter of businesses currently using video as part of their marketing strategy, but over 1 million internet users clicking to watch online videos every day, maybe it’s time to get visual with video!

If you need any help with generating ideas or implanting video marketing, please feel free to give us a call and we’ll be happy to offer our advice and expertise.